


Heaven Wasn't Built To Hold Me

by jaeparker



Category: Pierce the Veil
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-09
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:17:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaeparker/pseuds/jaeparker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Perry is a catcher for Mission Bay High School's Baseball team.</p><p>He gets along well with his team, but when they're not playing, he's on his own.</p><p>Jaime is a guy new to San Diego and to Mission Bay High School.</p><p>He makes unsuspecting friends through a family friend, who happens to be an out-fielder for Mission Bay High School's baseball team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Our Catcher

“Tony!” her voice called from downstairs.

Tony groaned and rolled onto his stomach.

“TONY!” She repeated louder, running up the stairs.

“What?” He groaned, rubbing his tired eyes.

“Honey,” She said, opening his bedroom door, “You have to get up or you’ll be late.”

Tony sighed and sat up in his bed.

“Okay, I’m up. I’m up.” Tony waved his mom away.

“Breakfast is on the table. Hurry up, you’ll make me late, young man.” His mother scolded and exited his room, closing the door behind her.

Tony sighed once more and trudged to his closet.

He opted for his normal attire for Saturday morning practice.

Practice jerseys and under armors.

(A/N under armor as in thin, stretchy, tank tops or long sleeved shirts that baseball, football, and basketball players wear to games and practice..)

Tony slipped his shoes and and grabbed his duffel bag with cleats and ran downstairs.

“Did you brush your teeth?” His mother asked and she struggled to put her earring in.

Tony set his stuff down, turned on his heel and ran back upstairs.

“TONY! Two minutes!” His mother called.

“Yes, ma’am!” Tony called back and went into the bathroom.

Tony brushed his teeth and walked downstairs in three minutes.

“I said two minutes,” His mother scolded, handing him his duffel and cleats and cellphone.

“It was two minutes,” Tony replied, taking his things and slipping his cell phone into his pocket.

“It was three. Eat quickly.” His mother said, pulling a chair out in front of a plate of breakfast on the dining room table.

“Two and a half. Not hungry.” Tony replied, pushing the chair back.

Tony’s mother rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Tony, you cannot practice on an empty stomach.” His mother insisted.

“It’s not full practice today. Plus we’re getting lunch after.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” She asked.

“That reminds me. Can I have some cash, please?” Tony asked.

“Tony, Who are you eating with?” She repeated her question.

“Just a couple guys on my team.” Tony sighed, annoyed with her over-protectiveness.

“Which guys? You know how I feel about some of the boys on your team, Tony.”

Tony rolled his eyes and groaned.

“I know, mom. Just some friends. Jack, Alex, maybe Austin. You like them, right mom?” Tony assured, throwing his duffel over his shoulder.

Tony lied, though. He was planning on going alone. He didn't really know Austin or his friends that well.

He just knew his mom would let him go easier if he said he was going with them.

His mother looked at him, obviously still not totally convinced.

“Okay,” She gave in.

“Cash, please?” Tony asked again, smiling sweetly.

“I’ll have to stop at an ATM. Let’s go.” She said, opening the front door.

“Do you need water?” She asked as he led the way to the car.

“New field has fountains, I’m good.” Tony replied and he tossed his stuff to the back seat of the car.

Tony and his mother got into the car and slammed their doors shut.

His mother started the car and looked at Tony.

“Remind me, when’s your next game.”

“I have one on Wednesday.” Tony replied, buckling his seatbelt.

“Home or away?” She asked, pulling out of their driveway and starting on the road to the bank.

“Home.”

“Night or afternoon?”

“Night.”

“Time?”

“6, as always.”

“Okay. I’ll be there. I won’t forget,”

Tony smiled, he loved it when his mom was in the crowd cheering him on.

“Have you been taking your medicine, honey?” She asked, stopping at a red light.

Tony nodded and looked out of the window.

His mother sighed, she knew he was lying.

“Tony, baby. Please don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” Tony replied, his voice flat.

“Sweetie, you have to take your medicine. Okay?”

“Why?” Tony asked, looking at his mother.

“Because it’ll make you feel better.”

“No, it makes me feel like shit.” Tony snapped.

Tony’s mother parked in front of the bank and fished her wallet out of her purse.

“You have to take your medicine, Tony. I’m sorry.”

“But, mom… I-”

“No buts. Tony,” His mother began, facing him and looking him in the eyes.

“You are my son. You are my everything. I love you more than anything. And I can’t let a damn thing happen to you. Do you understand?”

Tony looked down at his lap and nodded.

“You have to take your medicine from now on, okay?” She asked.

“But, I can’t play when I’m on it!” Tony whined, looking back up at her.

“Why not?” She sighed.

“I just can’t. Coach said to cut off any meds because he can tell when I’m on it. I’m just off my game, mom.”

“I’ll talk to your coach. You can play and still take your medicine, I’m sure.”

Tony groaned and shrunk in the passenger seat.

Tony’s mom left to get cash out for him and returned promptly.

“You do understand why I’m making you do it, right?” She asked, starting the car once more.

Tony sighed and nodded.

“Yes, I do.”

“I just want what’s be-” She began.

“-what’s best for me.. I know. Can we just… Can we just go?” Tony asked.

Tony’s mother sighed and handed her son the cash.  
Within five minutes, Tony was dropped off in front of the back of the field.

Tony got out of the car from the passengers and got his gear from the back seat.

“Call me when to pick you up. I’m only going to run some aarons.” His mother called from the open car window.

Tony slammed the car door shut and nodded.

“Okay, I gotta go.” Tony said, jogging his way onto the field.

 

With Jaime

Jaime was awaken by the sun shining through his uncovered window.

Jaime groaned and turned to face his back to the window.

He yawned, stretching his tired muscles.

Although he was still tired, he wasn’t nearly as exhausted as he was last night.

Jaime sat up in his bed and looked out his window .

He sat and observed the San Diego sky.

Jaime sat and checked the time on his phone.

It was 8AM on a Saturday, the day after he moved into San Diego

Jaime looks around his small bedroom to see it littered with unpacked boxes.

Jaime gets up and walks downstairs.

“Good morning, mijo.” His mother said as Jaime entered the kitchen.

“Good morning, mom.”

“Jaime, I have some aarons to run in a little bit.” His mom said.

“Okay. So I’ll be here alone?” Jaime asks, fishing a box of cereal from the cabinet.

“If you really want to be home alone, you can… But..” His mother begins.

“But?” Jaime questions, getting a bowl from the china cabinet.

“You know my old friend, Joyce? She’s lived here since I did when I was younger?” She asks.

Jaime shrugs.

“Sounds familiar”

“Well, we’ve been friends.. forever.. And she has a son around your age…” She continues.

Jaime sighs, knowing what she’s getting at.

“He plays baseball for your school. He’s a very sweet boy, I’ve met him before. You two would get along very well, and-”

“Mom,” Jaime groaned, “Can you stop trying to make my friends for me?”

“Mijo, Jack is very good boy. You’d like him and he’s excited to meet you.”

“What?” Jaime asked.

“We talked about you yesterday.”

“When did you talk to-”

“Yesterday, while you locked yourself in your room, Joyce visited and brought Jack with her.”

“He’s a very nice boy, Jaime.” His mom insisted.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s great, mom.” Jaime replied sarcastically and began to pour his cereal.

“I’m glad you think so, because you’re spending the day with him and his friends today.”

“What?” Jaime asked, freezing.

“He has baseball practice today, and afterwards, his team are going out for lunch and hanging out a bit.” His mom explained.

“What does that have to do with me, though?”

“He invited you to join him. You can meet a bunch of boys your age, and have some fun. Who knows, you might see a cute boy...” His mother teased.

Jaime had came out to his mother a few months prior to them moving.

Not surprisingly, she was fine with it.

Jaime’s mom was his best friend and he knew he could tell her anything. And he was so happy to be able to be so open with her.

But, unfortunately, since he had came out, she’s been trying to hook him up with ‘cute boys’.

She meant well, but it would get pretty embarrassing sometimes.

“You expect me to sit and watch a group of guys play baseball, then hang out with them like we’re old buddies?”

“Yes, please. Just do it. You might have fun! and if you don’t, you don’t have to do it again, okay?”

“No,”

“Please please? You can make friends! You’ll have fun!”

“If I do it, will you not bug me about friends ever again?”

His mom was the type to always make him go out and try to make friends rather than let him rot in his room.

“Not for the rest of the semester.” His mom compromised.

Jaime sighed and nodded.

“I’ll go, then”

“Great! Go get ready, they’ll be here in ten to pick you up.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me you told them I’d go without asking me?”

“I knew you’d say yes.”

Jaime sighed and trudged upstairs.

Jaime changed into an AFI t-shirt and standard black jeans.

Jaime brushed his teeth, fixed his hair and was downstairs just as someone knocked on the door.

“Hello,” His mother greeted the person at the door.

“Hi Mrs. Preciado.” Jaime heard the unfamiliar voice greet.

Jaime slipped his shoes on and walked to the door.

Jaime’s mother smiled and pushed Jaime in front of her.

“Jack, this is my son Jaime.”

Jaime forced a small smile and nodded.

Jack stood lanky and barely taller than Jaime.

Jack’s hair was unkempt, and he was dressed for baseball practice.

With his practice jersey having MISSION BAY BUCCANEERS printed across the front.

“Nice to meet you, Jaime.” Jack smiled wide and stuck his hand out.

Jaime shook his hands, then shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Ready to go?” Jack asked Jaime.

“Mom, I need money.” Jaime said, turning to his mother.

His mother handed him a 20$ bill from her wallet and motioned for him to go.

“Okay, mom. I’ll see you later.” Jaime said, walking onto the porch beside Jack.

“Bye, boys! Have fun!” She called as the two walked to Jack’s mom’s car.

Jack waved back at her, and called.

“I’ll take care of him.”

Jack and Jaime got into the car that took them to the field where Jack’s practice was held.

“Jaime, I’ve been waiting to meet you.” Jack’s mother and his mother's friend, Joyce, said with a smile from the driver’s seat.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mrs…”

“Barakat.” Jack finished.

“..Mrs Barakat. I’ve heard so much about you from my mom.”

“You’re mother’s told me quite a lot about you as well.”

“All good things, All good things.” Jack assured.

Jaime smiled and nodded.

Maybe mom was right about him Jaime thought.

“So, baseball?” Jaime asks Jack.

“Yeah, I love it, man.” Jack replied with a big smile.

“What position do you play?”

“I’m an outfielder.”

“You guys any good?” Jaime asked.

Jack shrugged.

“We do alright. We all love it, so we work hard. It’s really fun.” Jack answered.

Jaime nodded.

“Our catcher is the best, though. He’ll never admit it, but he’s really good at baseball. He loves it more than anything.”

“I think that’s why it’s so fun. Since we all enjoy it so much, it just puts us all in a better mood. And we get to spend time with our best friends.” Jack explains.

“My team is like my family.”

“Sounds fun.” Jaime says, to prove he’s listening.

“It’s the best,” Jack says as his mother stops in front of the field.

“You boys have a fun day.” Joyce says.

“We will, thanks mom.” Jack says, getting his stuff and getting out of the car.

“Thank you, Mrs. Barakat.” Jaime said gratefully as he followed Jack.

Jack led Jaime to a baseball diamond in the middle of the field.

A couple of guys were already hanging out by the caged bench on the offside of the diamond.

Jack beckoned for Jaime to follow as he made his way over to the boys.

“What’s up?” Jack called to the four boys sat, chatting.

“Jack! You’re early? That’s a first.” One of them joked as he adjusted his baseball cap to sit on top of his ginger hair.

“Shut up, Alan. Coach has been on my ass about being late.” Jack sighed, plopping his stuff onto the ground beside the bench.

“Who’s this?” The tallest boy asked, nodding towards Jaime.

“Boys… This is Jaime. He’s a family friend. He’s starting at Mission bay on Monday and needs friends.” Jack said, displaying Jaime like a model.

Jaime blushed in embarrassment and looked down at the dirt ground.

“You’re our friends now, Jaime. That’s it. You have no say in it.” One of them said, clapping a hand on Jaime’s back.

“He likes AFI, Perry will love him.” One smirked.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll love Perry even more,” Jack said, his voice flirtatious.

Jaime blushed even worse and covered his face. He never liked being the center of attention.

“Jack, come on,” The tallest on chimed in, putting a comforting hand on Jaime’s back, “You’re embarrassing him”

“Well, Jaime… It’s nice to meet you. I’m Austin, and I won’t embarrass you like these idiots.”

Jaime nodded and sighed in relief silently.

“I’m Alex, and I’ll definitely embarrass you the most, but it’s never on purpose, I swear.” another called loudly.

“I’m Rian, and Alex is right. He embarrasses us all the most, I swear.”

“I’m Alan, and Rian is an asshole, but Alex can be dumb sometimes.” The ginger boy said.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Jaime said.

“How early are we? Where’s the rest of the guys?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. Coach isn’t even here yet, though.” Austin replied with a shrug.

“We all know Perry won’t show up until we do pacers.” Alex joked.

The boys all chuckled.

“He’s always late.” Alan remarked.

“It’s so unprofessional” Jack said.

“You’re late more often than he is, Jack.” Rian said, causing everyone to laugh again.

“Shut up,” Jack pouted.

A few boys started showing up, splitting into small cliques and talking amongst each other.

After a few minutes of small conversation, the coach showed up.

“Jaime, go sit in the bleachers, okay? Practice will only be half an hour.” Austin said, pointing to the bleachers.

Jaime nodded and made his way to the bleachers, thankfully they weren’t very far at all.

“Boys? Is everyone here?” The coach called.

All 17 players gathered in their usual practice spot, the spot of dirt in front of the bleachers.

The players all looked amongst each other and nodded.

“Everyone except catcher!” Alex called back.

“Perry, missing practice.” The coach called, writing it down on a clipboard.

“He’s probably going to be late, coach.” Jack said.

“You mean like you always are, Barakat?” The Coach said, looking at Jack.

A few boys laughed.

“We’ll just have to start without him then.” The coach said.

“You boys know what to do. Begin your stretches.”

“What are we doing today, coach?” Alan asked, throwing his cap to ground.

“Running. Lots and lots of pacers, boys.” The coach said, getting a timer set up.

Alan groaned and began stretching his legs in preparation for all the running he’s about to do.

“Oh come on, Ashby. As a baseman, you don’t do much running, anyway.” The coach said.

“Exactly. I shouldn’t have to do pacers, then.” Alan remarked.

“Ashby, I’m done with your complaining.”

“But-” Alan began to whine.

“Alright, boys. Everyone drop and give me 30.”

All the players groaned.

“Thank your friend Alan.”

“Nice going, asshole!” Alex called, dropping into the plank position.

All the players got into the plank position.

“On my count, 30.” The coach yelled.

“Up, down” The coach called, in sync, all 17 players dropped and came back up.

Simultaneously, all 17 players counted

“1”

As they neared their 15th push up, the sounds of running feet was heard.

“Up, down” The coach called, then turned to see what it was.

Jaime turned as well to see a boy, in baseball uniform, running to the field where the players were doing pushups.

“Sorry I’m late, coach.” The boy said, out of breath from sprinting over.

“Boys, on your feet.” The coach called, turning back to the players.

17 distinct audible sighs sounded as they got stood up.

“Our beloved cather is going to not only make up the 30 he’s been assigned, he’ll also do the other 15 you are all skipping, and another 5 for being late.” The coach said, clapping a hand on his back.

Jaime noticed, from behind, that his jersey read PERRY on the back and that made Jaime blush.

“Wait, wha-” He began.

“Tony, you’re gonna give me 50.” The coach said.

Alex and Alan were snickering at him.

“Ashby, Gaskarth or you two could do 100 for him?” The coach threatened.

“No, sir” Alex and Alan said simultaneously.

They stood silently.

“Perry, drop and give me 50. Boys, go and start your laps around the diamond.”

Tony dropped his duffel and sighed.

“Really?” Tony asked the coach.

“You’ve been late too much, Perry. You’re a great player, but don’t come late to my practices, son.” The coach shrugged as he beckoned the other players to the diamond in the center of the field.

Tony sighed again and turned around to start his push-ups.

He froze as he sat Jaime sitting there, silently watching the boys practice.

Tony looked at him confused for a moment before the coach’s whistle sounded.

“50, Perry!”

Tony dropped into the plank position and started his push-ups.

“1, 2, 3, 4, “ Tony began counting.

Jaime turned his attention to Tony’s pushups.

He liked the way Tony’s back muscles would be carved out every time he dropped.

Jaime shook the thought out of his head.

But his eyes couldn’t help but trail from his back down to his butt and-

No, Jaime. Stop it. Jaime scolded himself.

Jaime sat, watching Tony silently.

He admired Tony’s strength and determination.

Plus, Jaime had never seen anyone do push-ups that quickly.

“34, 35,30..- F-fuck” Tony muttered as he plopped onto his stomach.

Tony groaned and rolled onto his back.

“Hey, kid.” Tony said, his voice low.

“Hm?” Jaime replied.

“Is the coach watching me?” Tony asked.

Jaime looked up to see the coach intensely watching the boys run and yelling words of encouragement.

“No, you’re good.”

Tony put a thumbs up and nodded.

“Thanks.”

Tony got onto his feet and dusted himself off.

“If anyone asks, I did 50.” Tony mutters as he runs to where the players are running laps.

Jaime nodded in agreement and watched as Tony ran off.

He’d hate to see him leave, but he loves to watch him go.


	2. Great Player

“Perry, Was that 50?” The coach asked as Tony joined the players running laps.

“Yes, sir.” Tony called as he sped around the diamond.

“When do we stop, coach?” Alan whined, out of breath.

“When I feel you’re done.” The coach chuckled.

“Come on, boys. We lost last game because their basemen outran you. Let’s get it going!”

All 18 boys ran in a single file line around the diamond, keeping a steady pace.

Jack ran between Alex and Rian, maintaining the pace they both kept.

But after a few laps, Jack couldn’t help but slow down some.

“Come on, Jack. You got this.” Rian said, pushing Jack in front of him.

“I can’t, man.” Jack called, clearly out of breath.

Alex turned back to face Jack and jogged backwards.

“Come on, Jack! You can do it, man!” Alex cheered.

“Keep it up, Barakat!” The coach yelled.

Jack pushed himself and tried his best to keep up with Alex.

After what felt like a million laps for everyone involved, the coach sounded his ear-splitting whistle and called.

“TIME!”

Jack dropped to his knees, gasping for air.

Alex chuckled and plopped down beside him, catching his breath as well.

“You did it, Jack!” Austin cheered and sat down with Alex and Jack. Rian and Alan did the same, all five boys trying to recover from the run.

“I hate running.” Alan groaned, clutching his stomach and lying on his back.

“Don’t we all?” Austin chuckled.

“You boys did great. Get some water, all of you.”

Like zombies, the players went to go to their bags to retrieve water bottles.

Jack was rustling through his bag when he muttered.

“Fuck,”

“What is it?” Austin asked, taking a swig from his water bottle.

“I left my water bottle at home,” Jack groaned, throwing his bag onto the dirt.

“You can have some of mine,” Alex offered.

“No, thanks. I’ll just get some from the fountain.” Jack said, turning to see Tony drinking from one of the fountains.

“I’ll go with you,” said Alan.

Jack and Alan made their way to the water fountains, on the other side of the diamond, just as Tony finished up.

“Hey, Perry!” Alan called to Tony, who was already walking away.

Tony turned to look at Jack and Alan.

“Why were you late today?” Alan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tony shrugged.

Alan nodded.

Every day. Every day Alan saw Tony, he tried to get him to say something to him, or anyone besides the coach for that matter.

Tony never talked to anyone.

Not even when the team would win and get celebratory dinners after games.

He always kept to himself.

Although the Alan and his friends would hate to admit it, it almost felt like he wasn’t apart of their family as the other players did.

It wasn’t that Tony didn’t belong, he was meant to be on the team more than anyone else.

It’s just that he loved to isolate himself.

Alan always insisted he should know why.

“Alan, just leave him alone.” Jack whispered, taking a drink from the water fountain.

Alan nodded and frowned.

“Good run, Tony.” Alan said, turning his back to Tony to take a drink from the fountain.

“You too.” Tony said softly, walking back to where everyone else was.

Alan and Jack both froze, and looked up at each other.

“Did he just?” Alan whispered.

Jack nodded.

Alan smiled, feeling accomplished and ran after Tony. Jack followed closely behind.

Alan and Jack caught up to Tony and clapped a hand on his back.

“Thanks, man. That was really sweet of you.” Alan smiled sweetly.

Tony looked at him, utterly confused.

“You talked to me. You’ve been on this team all season. We’ve gone to the same school since you moved here a couple years ago, and you barely spoke to me the first time just now.” Alan exclaimed.

“Alan, don’t scare him.” Jack warned.

“Sorry, Tony.” Alan apologized, “It’s just… You don’t talk much, do you?”

Tony shook his head.

“Why not?” Jack asked.

Tony shrugged and looked down at his practice cleats.

Alan smiled and nodded towards his friends.

“Come with us, Tony. I want you to formally meet my boys.”

Tony looked up at Alan and shook his head with pleading eyes.

“No. I-it’s okay.” Tony said, his voice low.

“You talked again! Come on, please.” Alan pleaded.

Tony took in a shuttered breath and shook his head again.

“Come on.” Alan insisted, grabbing Tony’s hand and dragging him towards his friends.

“What the hell are you doing?” Austin asked as Alan approached the group with Tony.

“Alan’s kidnapping Perry.” Jack explained and he sat beside Alex.

“Why?” Rian asked.

“Because, he talked to me.” Alan said, pointing at Tony.

Tony ripped his hand from Alan’s grip and looked down at his cleats.

“Alan, leave the kid alone. If he doesn’t want to be around you, leave him be.” Austin scolded.

“It’s n-not tha-that..” Tony said softly.

At once, all five boys snapped their heads and gaped at Tony.

“He does speak,” Alex joked.

“The why didn’t you want to come with me?” Alan asked Tony.

“I did-didn’t want to b-bother anyone.” Tony admitted,

“Don’t be ridiculous, Perry. You’re one of the boys, now. Accept it.” Austin insisted.

“No. You don’t h-have to,” Tony began.

“I know we don’t. We want to.” Alex offered.

“We’ve recruited two in one day,” Rian said, jokingly rubbing his hands together ‘manically’.

“Shut up, Rian.” Alan replied.

Tony offered a small smile and looked back down at the dirt.

“I honestly thought you didn’t talk to people because you were an asshole.” Alex admitted.

Austin smacked Alex on the back of the head.

Tony shrugged

“You woul-wouldn’t be the f-first” Tony admitted with a smile.

The five boys made a silent agreement to not bring up the slight stutter.

The five boys made a silent conclusion that that was why Tony never talked to people.

It was because he was crippling shy. And because he had the tendency to stutter excessively when he was nervous.

“So, Tony…” Alan began, “What do you like to do?”

Tony shrugged, “Play baseball?”

Alan rolled his eyes playfully, “Besides that.”

Tony shrugged

“I like t-to read, or l-listen t-to music.”

“That’s it? you don’t hang out with friends or anything?” Alex asked.

“I only h-have one friend. And w-we hang out at s-school.”

“Oh, yeah!” Alex called, “You hang out with that Burnham kid. The one who came from Boston, don’t you?”

Tony nodded.

“What’s his name, again?” Alan asked.

“Robert, isn't it?” Austin asked.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t like being called Robert.” Tony replied

“What do you call him?” Rian asked.

“Bo” Tony answered.

“Bo Burnham?” Alex recited.

“What’s he been up to?” Alan asked, taking advantage of Tony becoming more and more comfortable as the conversation progressed.

“His family dragged him home to Boston for spring break.”

“Sounds fun,” Austin smiled.

Tony shrugged.

“Bo doesn't like it much over there. But, he comes home tomorrow.”

“So you spent spring break alone?” Jack asked.

Tony looked down at the ground and nodded.

“Let me guess, you read the whole time?” Alan said sarcastically.

“Pretty much,” Tony nodded again.

“Are you serious?” Alex laughed obnoxiously.

“Leave him alone. He’s smarter than you two for a reason.” said Austin.

“How are you holding up, Perry?” The coach asked as he approached the boys.

Tony gave a thumbs up.

“Good. Well, your mother called and I think we have some discussing to do.”

Tony swallowed hard, his throat growing dry and he nodded.

“Listen, How about practice on Monday, you come with medication and we’ll see how you play. Sound fair?” The coach asked.

Tony nodded.

“Thanks, coach.” Tony said softly.

“You’re a great player, Perry. But I think your mother’s right. Your well being comes first.” The coach said, clapping a hand on Tony’s back.

Tony nodded again with a small smile.

“Alright, you boys can head home now. Practice is shorter today. Prepare to kill it on Wednesday.”

The coach smiled and walked off.

“What was that about?” Alex asked.

Tony shook his head as a “forget it”

“It’s nothing. Don’t mention it.”

“What does he mean your well being?” Alan asked.

“Listen, it was really nice talking to you guys. But I’m gonna go.” Tony said, turning around to walk away.

“Alright, it was nice to talk to you too.” Austin said as Tony walked to collect his things from the bleachers.

Tony met the familiar, but-not-so-familiar face that was sat on the bleachers.

Tony avoided eye contact and picked up his duffel.

Jaime couldn’t help but die to talk to him.

Mainly because two of his new friends said they’d get along well.

So Jaime couldn’t help but hope they’re right.

Jaime didn’t really know what to say to Tony, though.

He was never really good with talking to people, especially when it comes to boys he thought were cute.

Jaime ran different conversation starters through his mind, but none of them seemed up-to-par.

Jaime feared that Tony was too cocky to even really talk to him.

But, Jaime didn’t really want to believe Tony was like that.

But, Tony doesn’t really talk to anyone.. So that had to be why, right?

Mentally thanking God, Jaime smiled when Jack showed up, clapping a hand on Tony’s back.

“Tony, this is my friend Jaime. He’s new to San Diego and is starting at MB on Monday.” Jack said.

Tony looked up at Jaime and smiled slightly, nodded and made his way out of the practice field.

“Don’t take it personally, Jaime. Tony doesn’t really talk to anybody.” Jack assured with a smile, and beckoned for Jaime to follow him.

Jack began walking towards Alex, Austin, Alan, and Rian so they could leave together.

“Why not?” Jaime asked.

Jack shrugged.

“Well, he’s really shy. Since he moved here four or five years ago, he’s only really talked to his one friend, Robert... I mean Bo... And we always thought it was weird, like I don’t know… But he actually talked to Alan today, which was weird because it was out of nowhere and-” Jack rambled.

“Dude, what are you babbling about?” Austin interjected.

“I introduced Perry to Jaime and he didn’t say anything to him, so I’m explaining how Tony doesn’t talk to anyone.”

“He talked to me!” Alan sang.

“Yeah, because you’ve harassed him like every day for the past 4 years.” Rian retorted.

“Jaime, he’s just really shy. His friend is the same way. I guess that’s why they hang out.” Austin explained.

 

The six boys, Rian, Jaime, Alex, Jack, Austin, and Alan walked to a nearby diner, where the boys usually spent time after baseball practice.

“I always thought they were… a thing.. to be honest.” Alex admitted.

“Who? Perry and Burnham?” Rian asked.

Alex shrugged,

“Well, yeah.. They only ever talk to each other. The only ever hang out with each other. Without one, the other has no one..” Alex elaborated.

“That doesn’t mean they’re gay, Lex” Jack chuckled.

“I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing. If they are, power to them… But I don’t know..” Alex shrugged again.

After about five minutes of walking, they finally reached the diner.

The six boys all sat along the counter.

“So, Jaime..” Alex began.

“Yeah?” Jaime asked.

“Where’d you come from?” Alex asked.

“I lived in New York” Jaime answered.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there..” Alan exclaimed.

“Isn’t it cool over there?” Austin asked.

“You’ve been there?” Jaime asked.

“Austin has lived in practically every state in the U.S” Alan rolled his eyes.

Jaime nodded

“Well, the weather’s different. I kind of like the sun more…” Jaime explained.

“I do too, but the snow is so fun.” replied Austin.

“It is. I just hated being snowed in all the time.” Jaime sighed.

“You won’t have any more of that.” Alan said with a smile.

“Yeah, thankfully.” Jaime chuckled.

Jaime looked around the 50’s themed diner and admired every aspect.

It was a beautiful diner, really.

Some of it reminded him of back home in New York.

But, it also helped him think of San Diego as more of a home.

As Jaime scanned the diner, his eyes fell on a face he was excited to see.

He saw Tony, sitting alone in the corner of the diner.

Tony had his legs tucked to his chest and he was reading alone.

His eyes lit up whenever he turned the page, which made Jaime smile.

He truly was adorable, and Jaime couldn’t handle it.

“What made you move here?” Austin asked.

“My mom grew up in San Diego and she missed home. Neither one of us had anyone keeping us in New York, so we decided to move.” Jaime shrugged, wishing his reason for moving was more interesting than it already was.

“Yeah, his mom and my mom where best friends like all their lives..” Jack said.

“What you looking at?” Rian asked, seeing Jaime’s attention was elsewhere.

“Nothing.” Jaime shook his head, ripping his attention from Tony.

Rian’s eyes followed where Jaime was looking.

“Would you look at that?” Rian joked.

“What?” Austin asked, turning his attention to Rian.

Rian was grinning like an idiot, so Austin followed Rian’s gaze to see Tony.

“Perry’s here!” Alex cheered, standing up to greet Tony.

“Oh, no you don’t” Austin chuckled, pulling Alex back down into his seat.

“What? Why not?” Alex asked.

“Tony’s here by himself, reading peacefully. Respect that.” Austin said.

“But he’s our friend now.” Alan said.

“I know. But, Tony’s not used to us yet. So, leave him be.” Austin replied.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Alex and Alan nodded in agreement.

Finally, a waitress approached the six boys patiently waiting at the counter.

After kindly taking their orders, the waitress made her way to the back of the diner.

Alan’s eyes followed the waitress who walked to ask the boy in the back corner if he needed anything.

“Everything okay back here, honey?” She asked with a smile.

Tony offered a small smile and nodded.

“Yes, thank you.”

The waitress nodded and sighed.

“You know, Andrea is really worried about you.” The waitress said.

Alan barely heard that as the boys were all talking over each other.

“Shh, shut up!” Alan whisper-yelled. The boys went silent and looked at him confused.

Alan strained to hear what was said next.

Tony sighed and replied,

“Tell her not to worry about me. I’m fine.”

“But-”

Tony waved her off.

“I’m fine. I promise. Tell her I’m sorry I haven’t been around, would you?” Tony asked with hopeful, sad eyes.

The waitress frowned, but nodded.

“You betcha.”

“Thanks, Trish.” Tony smiled.

The waitress nodded once more and said,

“Better get back to work before she unleashes the hounds.”

Trish, the waitress, turned around and began walking towards the kitchen.

She turned back to Tony and smiled,

“See you around, Tone-Bone”

Tony waved at Trish, his attention fully returned on the book he was reading.

Trish continued her way to the kitchen with a smile.

Alan then returned his attention to the group, who was all still looking at him confused.

“What the hell were you doing?” Jack asked.

“Eavesdropping.” Alan replied with a sly smile.

“Why?” Austin asked.

Alan shrugged.

“I don’t know, but now I know that Tony is good friends with the staff here.”

“He needs friends somewhere.” Alex commented snidely.

“Well, he has Burnham.” Rian shrugged.

“He has us, too. He just doesn’t know it yet.” Austin said softly.


	3. This Familiy

(A/N the boys are like 14-15 here. So Austin’s mom is still alive. And for those who don’t know.. Bo Burnham is a real person..)

Tony sat alone in the diner, entirely engulfed into his novel.

He tucked his legs so he sat cross legged.

Tony sat in silence, reading the book he’s read a thousand times.

His phone rang, suddenly ripping his attention from his book.

Tony gasped and then sighed in relief.

Tony silently laughed at himself for letting his phone scare him, then he answered.

“Hello?”

“Tony?” The familiar voice said over the phone.

Tony immediately smiled and closed his book.

“What is it, Bo?”

“I’m dying, Tony.” Bo groaned.

“That devastates me,” Tony replied sarcastically.

“Seriously, dude. My brother and sister are so boring!” Bo groaned again.

“You mean to tell me you haven’t had any fun all week?” Tony asked, putting his book in his duffel.

“No! I’ve been miserable!” Bo replied.

“Come on, Bo. Nothing fun happened?”

“Nothing fun ever happens in Boston. Why do you think I moved to San Diego?” Bo joked.

“Well, you’re coming home tomorrow, aren’t you?” Tony asked.

“Yes, thank Christ! I cannot spend much more time here, Tony. I genuinely think I’ll die.” Bo gasped over-dramatically.

“Okay, drama queen.” Tony said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

“What have you done without me all week?” Bo asked.

Tony shrugged.

“I read and slept.” Tony replied.

“You do that anyway.”

“Shut up,”

“What are you reading this week?” Bo asked.

“To Kill A Mockingbird,” Tony replied.

“Again? Tony, you’re obsessed.” Bo said.

“Not obsessed, passionate.” Tony corrected.

“Is that what they call it nowadays?” Bo joked.

“Shut up, Bo.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“That’s seriously all you’ve done over the break?” Bo sighed.

“I’ve gone to practice.” Tony replied.

“I didn't miss any games, did I?” Bo asked.

Ever since Tony and Bo became friends, Bo has attended every single baseball game.

Not because he liked the sport or anything, he went because he knew Tony wanted him there.

Bo hates sports. He would’ve never gone to any games if Tony wasn’t a baseball player.

Bo went because he liked the smile on Tony’s face when Tony would catch a glimpse of his best friend and his mother cheering him on in the crowd.

“No. We have our next one on Wednesday.”

“Home?”

“Yeah, at 6.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

“I know.” Tony smiled.

“Bo, something weird happened today.” Tony blurted as he remembered what happened with Alan and his friends during practice.

“What?” Bo asked.

Tony thought how he would start the story.

Tony thought how he could explain it to Bo. But, truthfully, Tony wasn’t exactly sure what happened himself.

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” Tony sighed, giving up.

“No, don’t leave me in suspense.” Bo groaned again.

“Just wait until tomorrow. Then, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Tony!” Bo groaned once more.

“Robert Pickering Burnham, you are whining like a child.” Tony scolded playfully.

“Don’t you ever…” Bo began.

“Robert Pickering Burnham.” Tony repeated, purposely annoying Bo.

“Don’t-”

“Robert,”

“Tony!”

“Pickering,”

“Tony, I’ll hang up on you. I promise.”

“Burnham”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, Robert.”

“That’s it, I am done with you.” Bo replied.

“When are you coming home?” Tony asked, ignoring Bo’s drama.

“Never now.” Bo joked.

“Seriously.” Tony whined.

“Tomorrow at noon. I should be home then.” Bo sighed.

“Okay, I’ll stop by.” Tony replied.

“No. I’ll stop by yours. I need to get away from my mom for a bit.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Tony answered.

“Alright, see you then. I need to finish packing up”

“See you,” Tony smiled as Bo hung up.

Tony checked the time his phone down and sighed.

Tony let his eyes scan the familiar diner, out of sheer boredom.

Tony's eyes widened when his gaze fell on the familiar jerseys.

Tony swore under his breath and began to frantically pack his things.

“Shit, Shit, Shit” Tony muttered as he tried his best to avoid being noticed by his teammates.

Tony threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and ran towards the restroom in the front of the diner.

His eyes didn’t leave the boys once. The baseball players were still deep into their own conversations, laughing obnoxiously.

Tony began slowly tiptoeing backwards out of the diner.

Once he decided he was entirely out of sight, Tony sighed in relief, turned around and started hi way out of the diner.

As he passed the doors to the restrooms, he was accidentally shoved back by someone leaving the restroom

“Oh, sorry man.” The person muttered.

“Sorry,” Tony apologized.

“Wait? Perry?” The familiar voice asked.

Tony sighed and continued walking.

“Tony!” Alex called. Tony rolled his eyes, and turned to face Alex.

Tony forced a tiny smile.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked

Tony shrugged.

“Just.. hanging out.” Tony muttered.

“With?” Alex continued.

“No one,” Tony shook his head.

“Oh, well.. come hang with us and the guys.” Alex said, nodding towards Rian, Austin, Jack, Alan and Jaime.

Tony shook his head once more.

“No, it’s okay. I was just about to walk home.” Tony insisted.

“One of us can take you home, I’m sure.” Alex continued, with a smile.

“No, it’s okay.”

“I insist, come on.” Alex persisted, taking Tony’s hand and dragging him to their table.

“Are we taking him a hostage?” Rian joked as Alex approached the table with Tony behind him.

“Nope, just another harmless kidnapping.” Alex replied nonchalantly, sitting in his seat and pulling Tony to sit beside him.

“Is Alex harassing you?” Alan asked Tony.

Tony shook his head.

“Look, I appreciate you guys trying to make me feel better about not having any friends… But I have to go..” Tony began, standing up.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“We all know I don't have the most friends.” Tony admitted.

“Neither do we. We only have each other.” Austin replied.

“Yes, you do. And that’s great. It really is. And I wouldn’t want to intrude..” Tony continued.

“You aren’t” Alan began, “We all want to be your friend, Tony. Let us.”

“Now, don’t make Tony feel like he has to like us, guys.” Austin said.

“It’s not that. I’d love to have friends like you guys. It’s just…” Tony began.

“It’s just nothing.” Alex insisted, “Look, we’ll kidnap you today. We’ll hang out here, We’ll give you a ride home so you don’t have to walk, we’ll get to know each other… And if you totally hate us by the end of it… It wasn’t meant to be, and Burnham comes home tomorrow.”

Tony sighed and gave in.

The boys all smiled and Alex pulled Tony back down to sit.

“So, Tony…” Jack began, “You come here often?”

The boys chuckled.

“That sounded like a shit pick-up line.” Rian commented.

“It wasn’t!” Jack defended.

“I come here all the time. Almost everyday.” Tony answered.

“Why?” Alan asked.

Tony shrugged.

“It’s nice in here. Plus, my mom is friends with the owner, so…” Tony replied.

“That’s cool.” Austin nodded.

“You moved here a couple of years ago, right?” Alex asked.

Tony nodded.

“Yeah, like four or five years ago.”

“Where did you live before?” Alan asked.

“Tijuana.” Tony replied.

“You lived in Mexico?” Jack asked.

Tony nodded.

“For how long?” Alan asked.

“Oh… I was born in Tijuana. So, I lived there for the first ten years of my life.”

“That’s so cool!” Alan gaped.

“What’s it like over there?” Austin asked.

“To me, there’s nothing like it,” Tony smiled, reminiscing his childhood back in Tijuana. The only person he ever really talked to about it was Bo.

“I mean, it’s like San Diego… But the vibe is different…” Tony tried his best to explain that he’d never feel the way Tijuana made him feel.

“It’s pretty much the same, except it’s totally different… Right?” Austin asked.

“Yeah,” Tony nodded.

“I know what you mean, I felt that way after I moved from NYC to Manhattan.” Austin explained.

“I’ve felt that way since my dad died.” Tony replied.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Tony.” Alex said.

All six boys fell silent. None of them had known, nor would’ve guessed that Tony’s father has passed.

Tony shrugged.

“He’s been gone since we came here…”

“I’m sorry, Tony.” Austin repeated.

Tony gave a sad smile and nodded.

“It’s fine.”

“Did you move because your dad passed?” Alan asked.

Tony shook his head.

“He died after we moved.”

“What happened to him?” Jack asked.

Tony still cringes to the most recent memory he holds of his father

 

“I gave him everything he cares about. What are you saying you’ve done for him?” Tony heard his mom yell from downstairs.

“Everything? That’s why he has to take medicine? That’s why he has to see a professional  
about how he’s feeling? He’s ten years old with a therapist!” His dad yelled back.

Tony shut his eyes tight and tried to block out the yelling.

“Don’t you dare. You know I have no control over-” Tony’s mom began

“No control? You’re the only control my baby boy has! You insisted you take him to live with  
you. You HAD to take Tony away from me. You HAD to move to the states! Now look at him!!”

“You can’t say-”

“Half of his problems were supposed to be mine to help with. You think you know everything! You don’t know anything about raising a child on your own! I hope you’re happy! Because he’s sure not!”

“Well at least I did my fucking job as a parent. I fed him, I helped him with homework. I bought his clothes, I took care of him when he was sick. I wiped his nose, I tied his shoes! I kept him working, I kept him productive.You were supposed to look after him, you were supposed to help me keep him safe. YOU were supposed to help me keep him emotionally stable through everything he’s been through, and now you’re trying to blame me for how he’s feeling. If he’s feeling unhappy, that’s because YOU failed him. YOU did this to him. He hates YOU, I know he does. He FUCKING HATES YOU!”

Tony strained his ears to hear the rustling followed by a thud.

Tony sat up in his bed and waited.

“What are you doing?!” He heard his mom yell.

Tony jumped on his feet and ran downstairs.

“Mom!” Tony yelled.

He looked to see the table on it’s side, dishes shattered on the floor, and his mother crawling backwards away from his father.

“Tony, go upstairs and pack your things, buddy. You coming with me.” His father said with a soft tone.

Tony ignored him and helped his mom up.

“Mama, are you okay?” He asked.

“Tony, baby go upstairs. I don’t want him to hurt you.” She whispered.

“I’m not letting him hurt you.” Tony replied.

“I would never hurt my son, you’re crazy.” His dad said to his mom.

“But you’d hurt my mom?” Tony asked, looking up at his father.

“I wasn’t hurting her, son. I was-” His father began, crouching down to Tony’s level.

“You were hurting her, and I’m not going to let you hurt her like you hurt me.”

“Buddy, I-”

“Don’t call me that. My mom already told you I don’t like you.” Tony replied coldly, looking away from his dad.

“Tony…” His dad stood straight.

“You need to leave.” Tony stated sternly.

“But-”

“Go away” Tony cried, scrambling to stand beside his mother.

“Tony..”

“I don't ever want to see you again. You were never nice to me before. Don’t pretend you are  
now. Why are you here?” Tony spat.

“Because your doctor told me you weren’t feeling well. I had to check up on you.”

Tony scoffed and shook his head.

“Now you care? Why?” Tony asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’ve always cared about you.”

“Don’t. Lie. To. Me.” Tony gritted through his teeth.

“Robert, you need to leave, you’re just making him upset.” His mother said, putting her hand on the back of Tony’s hair.

Tony’s father nodded and promptly walked out.

“Call me soon, baby boy.” His father said, turning back to look at his son.

“I don’t want to talk to you ever..” Tony shook his head.

Robert nodded and left.

“Mama, I’m sorry.” Tony said, pulling his mother into a hug.

His mother wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

“It’ll be okay, baby. You’ll be okay.”

“He won’t bother you anymore.”

“I don’t want to see him again,” Tony said, burying his face.

The next time Tony would see his father, would be the last.

The day that he was buried.

 

Tony broke the silence he created from spacing out.

“He wasn’t happy..” Tony said softly.

Austin immediately understood what Tony meant.

Austin pulled Tony into a hug and held him tight, causing Jack, Alex, Rian, and Alan to make it a group hug.

Jack, Alex, Rian and Alan circled around Tony and Austin and closed the space.

Tony couldn’t help but smile when he felt his fellow teammates show their support.

Tony, for the first time, felt the love from his team. From his family.

This family is what matters most, or at least that what coach says… But Tony felt he was right.

After a moment, They all backed off of Tony, giving him some space.

“Thank you, guys… It really means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it. You’re our friend, now. So no matter what, you have us, okay?” Rian says.  
Tony nods with a smile.

“If you need something or someone… don’t hesitate..” Alex continued.

“Thanks,” Tony said and looked down at his hands.

“Everything alright over here?” A woman asked.

She had a name tag on, but she wasn’t dressed in the uniform other employees wore.  
“Yeah, just making friends.” Tony smiled.

“That’s good,” She said with a smile.

“Who do we have here?” She asked, looking at the boys.

“Uh, this is Austin, Alex, Jack, Rian, Alan, they play baseball with me, and Jaime just moved here.” Tony said, pointing at the boys.

“Oh. Well, any friend of Tony’s is a friend of mine.”

Tony smiled at the thought of having friends and not just a friend.

“Where have you been, kiddo? I haven’t seen you at the house lately.” The woman asked  
Tony shrugged.

“I’ve been at the park over the break.” Tony replied.

“Oh, that reminds me. Tell your mom I’ll be stopping by to drop a couple things off later today, alright?”

“What things?” Tony asked.

“I have gifts for you and your mother. Nothing better.” She replied with a smile.

“Alright. I’ll tell her.” Tony replied.

“Alright, I’ll leave you boys to it. Lunch is on me, boys.” The woman said with a smile.

She kissed the top of Tony’s head, ruffled his hair and walked to the kitchen.

“Who was that?” Alan asked.

“Andrea, she owns the diner.” Tony replied.

“That was really nice of her, but we can pay for lunch.” Austin insisted.

Tony shook his head.

“She’ll make sure the bill doesn’t get to the table.” Tony said, recalling from past experiences.

“So you really do know the owner..” Jack gaped.

“Yeah, her and my mom…” Tony began, but stopped himself before he could finish.

“What?” Rian asked.

“They’re just good friends.” Tony shrugged.

Austin checked his phone and stood instantly.

“I have to go, guys. My mom’s here.” Austin threw his duffel over his shoulder.

“Alright, see you tomorrow Aus.” Alan said, standing up and hugging Austin.

Austin hugged his buddies and said,

“Tony, Jaime, pleasure making friends with you guys!”

 

Tony and Jaime both waved at him and Austin left the diner.

“I think I should get Jaime home, too.” Jack said, texting his mom to pick him up.

“Where does Jaime live?” Alex asked.

“Right next to Mission Bay. On Ladd Street,” Jack answered.

“Isn’t that where you live?” Alan asked Tony.

Tony nodded.

“How do you know where Perry lives?” Rian asked.

“My mom used to drop me off there to carpool. Back in middle school” Alan replied.

“Are you sure he’s not stalking you?” Rian asked Tony.

Tony smiled and nodded.

“Great, I can take you home too, Tony.” Jack offered

“Yeah, Jack’s mom loves Tony. ‘Why don’t you talk to that boy, Jack? He seems like a nice boy.’ “ Alex teases.

Tony blushed and looked down at his hands again.

“Don’t worry, Jack’s mom’s hot.” Alex teased again, nudging Tony.

Tony’s cheeks burned scarlet and Tony his his face in his hands.

“Shut up, Alex!” Jack threw a used napkin at him

Alex swat it away and chuckled.

“Tony, run while you still can. Take Jaime with you. Never be friends with Alex. It’s too late for  
me, but you two can still run.” Jack said jokingly.

“This is a family!” Alex said, pounding a fist on the table.

“A family you don’t want any part in,” Jack whisper yelled to Tony.


	4. New Friends

**(A/N I don’t know why I feel the need to say this, but I will… This story has obvious m/m pairings my very first f/f. if you do not like these pairings, then stop now.)**

Tony sat in his living room, staring blankly at the television screen while Andrea and his mother were making lunch.

“You know, you could help, Tone Bone.” Andrea called.

“Nah, wouldn’t want to intrude on your little date.” Tony teased.

“Speaking of, when’s Bo coming back?” His mother shot back playfully.

“Ha ha,” Tony ‘laughed’ sarcastically.

“But, seriously? You boys have school tomorrow, will he be here?” His mom asked.

“Yeah, he should be home today. Any minute now, actually.” Tony responded, looking at the clock.

Bo was meant to be back in his house in San Diego at noon. And it was now 12:15, so it was jut a matter of waiting.

“Were you supposed to wait for him at his house, or..?” Andrea asked.

“No, he was supposed to come here. He said he needs a break from his family.” Tony replied, standing up and walking into the kitchen.

“You know, you are so lucky to live next door to your best friend.” Andrea said, shaking her head.

Tony shrugged.

“It’s a blessing.” Tony sighed sarcastically.

Tony sat, watching Andrea and his mother.

Tony had always admired the way they were together.

They kind of just, existed, perfectly with one another.

“When are you two gonna get married?” Tony blurted out.

Andrea chuckled and pushed her blonde hair behind her ears.

“Right after you and Bo do,” Andrea teased.

Tony rolled his eyes and giggled.

“I’m being serious!” Tony said.

Tony’s mother sighed.

“In time,” She shrugged.

“You guys have been dating for years, just do it!” Tony called.

“We haven’t been dating for that long,” Andrea shakes her head.

“Long enough!” Tony waves his finger at her.

“Tony, I don’t know…” His mother shrugs again.

“Come on, guys! You guys love each other. You guys love me. And I love you guys. You two make each other happy. There should be nothing stopping you.”

“Tony, honey, That’s very sweet.. But maybe in a few years or so.” Tony’s mother explains softly.

Tony deflates in defeat and shrugs.

“I’m just saying. Just because it’s legal today, doesn’t mean it’ll be legal tomorrow.”

“Don’t jinx it!” Andrea jokes.

Tony smiles.

The three turn their heads to the sound of a car pulling up.

Tony looks out the window to see Bo’s family arriving back home.

“Bo’s home!” Tony jumps, going to get his shoes.

“Someone’s excited!” Andrea calls.

“He’s been gone for a week.” Tony calls back, running out the door.

Tony makes his way to the house next door.

“Hello, Mrs. Burnham” Tony greets sweetly as he sees Bo’s mother.

“Hello, Tony.” Mrs. Burnham smiles and walks into her home.

Tony makes his way to the back of the van to see Mr, Burnham unloading suitcases and bags.

“Need a hand?” Tony asks.

Mr. Burnham smiles, and shakes his head.

“Oh, I got it. Thank you”

Tony nods and smiles back.

Tony looks around to see where Bo was, and just before he turns around,

“Miss me?” Bo’s voice booms into his ear.

Tony jumped and turned to face Bo, looking up to see him laughing.

“Don’t do that!” Tony whines, hitting Bo, playfully, on the shoulder.

“Is that any way to treat your best friend that you’ve been dying to see?” Bo asked dramatically.

“Shut up, theatre kid.” Tony grumbles, keeping the smile on his face.

“You’re in theatre, too!” Bo shoots back.

“Yeah, because you made me!”

“You got taller, didn’t you?” Tony asks.

Bo shrugs.

“I think you just got shorter,”

“You’re just too tall,” Tony teases.

It was true, Bo was a whole five inches taller. Being the tall, lanky kids was what made Bo and Tony the least amount of friends.

Bo shakes his head and giggles.

“Come on,” Bo nods towards Tony’s house, “I gotta get out of here.”

“You don’t need to unpack?” Tony asks.

Bo starts walking over next door to Tony’s, and says,

“I’ll do it later,” with a shrug.

Tony and Bo were approaching Tony’s front porch when a familiar voice called.

“Hey, Perry!” Jack yelled from Jaime’s yard, across the street.

Tony turned around and waved.

Bo turned around and raised an eyebrow in utter confusion.

Since when do they talk to each other? Bo asked himself, as Jack crossed the road, approaching them.

“Hey, Tony! You and your friend should come over here. The boys and I are hanging out.” Jack offered.

“Sorry, Jack. Not today. Maybe another time.” Tony replied.

Jack nodded.

“That’s cool,” Jack smiled at Bo, “I’m Jack, nice to meet you.”

“Bo,” Bo replied with a curt nod.

“Alright, I’ll.. uh.. I’ll see you guys tomorrow at school?” Jack said, more like asked.

Tony and Bo nodded, and Jack made his way back to Jaime’s.

Once Jack is gone, Bo turned to Tony and asks.

“What the hell was that?”

“That’s what I needed to tell you,” Tony replies.

“Tell me!” Bo exclaims.

Tony leads Bo into his house.

Bo closes Tony’s front door behind him.

“Bo! How was your break?” Tony’s mom asks with a smile as the boys enter the kitchen

“Boston is cold and boring,” Bo answers, “So my break was cold and boring.”

“That’s too bad,” Andrea frowns, “Did you at least like seeing your family?”

“Eh…” Bo sighs.

“Well, how about you boys catch up, lunch is almost ready.” Mrs. Perry says.

“What is it?” Bo asks.

“Pizza.” Andrea smiles.

“I’m in,” Bo nods.

“Thanks mom, Thanks Andrea,” Tony calls as he runs up the stairs, Bo following shortly after.

“Okay, spill.” Bo says as he closes Tony’s bedroom door.

Bo plops backwards onto Tony’s bed, and Tony plops down into his desk chair.

As Per Usual..

“You know Alan Ashby? First basemen on my team?” Tony asks.

Bo thinks for a second, and replies,

“Ginger boy that always tried to talk to us?”

Tony nods,

“Well, he talked to me at practice yesterday… and I responded,” Tony explains.

“Why would you do that?” Bo sits up over-dramatically (theatre kid), “You need to maintain the douchey facade!” Bo says, half-jokingly.

Tony shrugs,

“He’s nice. Him and all of his friends. They’re all really nice. And they’ve kind of kidnapped me into their group of friends.” Tony finished.

Bo shakes his head.

“No, you’re mine. I already called dibs. Four years, man. You’re in too deep. You're my friend.” Bo says, again, half-jokingly.

Tony shrugs again.

“I’ve been trying to just blow them off,”

“Why?” Bo asks.

Tony doesn’t answer, he just looks down at his lap.

Bo sighs, “Tony, you said they were nice guys. What’s stopping you from being their friend?”

Tony shrugs once more.

“I don’t need any more friends.”

“Are there other friends I should know about? Because, as far as I’m concerned, we only have each other..” Bo asks, uneasily.

“You’re all I need,”

Bo smiles sadly at Tony and nods.

“I appreciate that, Tony. I really do. You’re a great friend…” Bo sighs, “The best I’ve ever had…”

“I know,” Tony replies, with  playful smirk creeping onto his face.

“But it would be good for you to have friends other than me,” Bo admits.

Tony looks down and shakes his head.

“Tony,” Bo sighs again.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Tony admitted.

Bo nods, and lays back down on his back.

“What else is there to fill me in on?” Bo asked.

“My mom and Andrea are putting off marriage.” Tony replies.

“They’re practically married already.” Bo scoffs.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Tony agrees.

Bo looks up from Tony’s bed and smiles.

“How’ve you been, Tony?” Bo asks.

“Peachy,” Tony replies with a small smile.

Bo’s smile immediately falls.

“Okay, I’m going to ask again. But, this time… you won’t lie to me.” Bo says with an even bigger, more goofy smile.

Tony sighs.

“How’ve you been, Tony?” Bo repeats.

“Mom found out I haven’t been taking my medicine.” Tony admits with a small voice.

Bo shoots up again, sitting to face Tony.

“You haven’t been-” Bo begins to yell.

“Bo! Calm down!” Tony yells over him.

Bo’s entire demeanor changed with that statement.

Bo looked at Tony with an unreadable face.

“Bo,” Tony sighs, his voice deflated in defeat.

“Why haven’t you been taking your medicine?” Bo asks with his voice low.

“Bo, I-” Tony begins,

“Why haven’t you been taking your medicine?” Bo repeats.

“I don’t like it,” Tony replies simply.

“Tony,” Bo sighs, “You know damn well what happens when-”

“Yes, Bo. I know! I’m sorry! I just..” Tony says as he stands, his voice a bit louder.

Bo stands and pulls Tony into a tight hug.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Bo murmurs.

Tony sighs and buries his face into Bo’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Tony” Bo apologizes, “I’m not angry, I’m not disappointed, either.”

“Then what is it?” Tony snaps, pulling himself from Bo’s embrace.

Bo takes a step back and looks down at his feet.

“I just need you to be okay,” Bo replies, his voice soft.

“Bo,” Tony sighs, his voice going soft as well.

“I just need you to be happy, Tony.”

Tony pulled the taller boy into another hug.

“I’ve missed you, Bo.”

“I’ve missed you too, turtle.” Bo chuckled.

 

Tony and Bo sat up in Tony’s room, eating pizza and passing time.

On the wall opposite of Tony’s bed, hung a large whiteboard.

As long as Bo and Tony had been friends, Bo has always drawn pictures and left notes for Tony to see whenever Tony was alone, or feeling down.

Tony loved it, because it never failed to lift his spirits.

Bo sat, cross-legged, in front of Tony’s whiteboard doodling away.

Tony sat on his bed, watching Bo deep in concentration.

“And what’s that?” Tony would sometimes interject and point at the tiny drawings.

“That’s a baby alien,” Bo scoffs, turning to face Tony, “I mean, it’s only obvious.”

Tony giggled and shook his head.

Bo smiles and turns back to the whiteboard.

“Are you ready for school tomorrow?” Tony asks.

“Is anyone ever really ‘ready’ for war?” Bo asks sarcastically.

“I could introduce you to my new friends, if you’d like.” Tony offers.

Bo freezes for a second, before looking down into his lap.

Bo takes a deep breath in and turns to face Tony,

“That’d be great,” Bo smiles sadly.

“You hesitated,” Tony points out.

“No, I didn’t,” Bo replies, turning back to the whiteboard.

“Bo, I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

“No, I want to meet them,” Bo interjects.

“I want to know who those guys are.”

Tony smiles and nods.

“They are good guys, really.”

“I’m sure they’re great,” Bo says mock-enthusiastically.

“it’s not like they’ve ever been dicks to us before, Bo.” Tony says, his voice flat.

“You’re right,” Bo shrugs, realizing how arrogant he’s been seeming

“You’ll like them, Bosey. I promise.” Tony says with a hopeful smile.

“ ‘Bosey?’ ” Bo smiles, and turns to face Tony, “You haven’t called me ‘Bosey’ since the seventh grade?”

Tony shrugs,

“You’ll always be Bosey,”

“You’ll always be Turtle,” Bo replies.

  
  



	5. Obviously Not

Earlier That Day, With Jaime

Jaime was sat on his couch, lazily, and absentmindedly staring at the television screen. 

Jaime’s mom was washing up after breakfast, humming quietly from the kitchen.

“Mijo, are you ready for your first day tomorrow?” She asked.

Jaime sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Sure,” Jaime replied.

“You’ve made friends already, not many kids can say that.” Mrs. Preciado smiled.

Jaime shrugged and turned the TV off.

“It’s just… the school year is practically almost over,” Jaime explains as he enters the kitchen.

Jaime’s mother sighs and turns to face her son.

“Jaime, I know.. I’m sorry, mijo.” 

Jaime forced a small smile and nodded.

“But, you’re right. I  did make friends already. So, it won’t be as bad…” Jaime shrugged once more.

“That’s the spirit.” Jaime’s mother replied and lightly pinched Jaime’s cheek.

“Any cute ones?” She asked, turning back to the dishes.

Jaime smiled, thinking back about Tony.

“Yeah, there was..” Jaime sighed.

“Oh, who?” She asked and turning back to Jaime, clearly excited.

Jaime shook his head at his mother.

“He plays on Jack’s team.” Jaime shrugged.

“Who is he? Maybe I know his mother.” She persisted.

Jaime shook his head.

“He’s only lived here for a couple years.” Jaime explained.

“JUST TELL ME!” His mother yelled in excitement.

“His name’s Tony!” Jaime laughed at his mother’s over-excitement. 

“Tony?” Jaime’s mother repeated, seeing if the name rung a but.

“Does Jack’s mother know Tony?” She asked.

Jaime just shrugged.

“I’ll ask..” She said, making her way to the house phone.

“No!” Jaime jumped right in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

“Don’t just go telling your friends I think Tony Perry is cute!” Jaime whisper-yelled.

“Tony Perry…” She repeated with a smirk.

“Mom,” Jaime sighs.

His mother smiles at her son, assuredly.

“I’m not going to tell her, son. I’m just going to ask if she knows him.”

Jaime shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall.

“He lives right across the street from us.” Jaime replied, remembering that Mrs. Barakat dropped them off at the same time yesterday.

“Perfect!” She calls.

“What do you mean? You’re not going to try and pre-arrange our marriage, are you?” Jaime asked jokingly.

“No, We can invite your friends over. Like… Like a house-warming party… We can invite Tony and Jack and his friends. It’ll be fun.”

“No, You’re insane,” Jaime shook his head, immediately disapproving.

“Come on, Jaime. You can hang out with friends, and talk to Tony,” His mother continued.

Jaime sighed in defeat and went up to his room.

Jaime’s mother smiled and called Jack’s mother to invite Jack over.

This led Jack to invite Alex, Alex to invite Rian, Rian to invite Austin, Austin to invite Alan, and the five boys to be at Jaime’s house three hours later.

The six boys were hanging out in the living room, eating and playing video games.

They were all having a good time, but something was missing to Jaime.

Since none of them really knew Tony, none of them had the contact information to invite him.

“Doesn’t he live across the street?” Alan asked, knowing that’s what was bothering him.

Jaime nodded.

“Why not go over and ask him?” Alan asked.

Jaime shrugged, “Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” Austin chimed in, “You want Tony to be here, we all do. But he won’t just show up. You’ll have to walk over and invite him.”

“No,” Jaime shook his head, “It’s alright. I don’t want to bother him, I don’t really know him.”

“Neither do we,” Alex said with a smile.

Jack stood up, and said

“Yeah, if it really bothers you, Alex and I can go and ask.” 

“Nah, you’re on your own there,” Alex shook his head.

Jack rolled his eyes and started walking to the door, deciding to just do it himself.

“Wait,” Rian said, pulling Jack back suddenly. “Didn’t Tony say Burnham was coming home today?” Rian asked.

“Yeah,” Jack shrugged, “So?” 

“Maybe, he’d rather spend time with his  friend .” Rian suggested.

“Or, we could get to know the both of them. Invite Burnham and Tony and we could hang out… If they agree, that is..” Alex said.

“But,” Jaime begins, wanting to protest.

“But nothing,” Jack began, “If they say yes, we kidnap Tony and Burnham, and make more friends. If they say no, we’ll see them tomorrow at school. Not a big deal, Jaime.” Jack explained.

Jaime sighed and nodded, allowing Jack to leave the house.

The five boys who stayed in, lined up, side by side, watching Jack from the living room window.

Luckily, Tony was already outside, talking to Bo on his lawn.

All six boys, Jack included, never really knew Bo at all. 

They didn’t really know his name or what he really looked like. 

To them, Bo and Tony were two faces that hid themselves pretty well.

All five boys inside watched intently from Jaime’s front living room window as Jack approached Tony and Bo.

Jaime’s stomach instantly filled with butterflies when his eyes caught a glimpse of Tony.

Jaime couldn’t recognize what it was about this boy, but he just…made him feel.. different.

Jaime was obviously attracted to Tony’s wide, curious, and innocent eyes. 

Jaime was speechless when it came to Tony’s dark hair that fell effortlessly perfect.

Tony’s physical being sent chills down his spine, but the physical attraction was nowhere near as prominent as the emotional curiosity Jaime felt for him.

The conversation was short lived, causing Jack to quickly return with a neutral expression.

With the five others anxiously awaiting a response, they quickly scurried to him.

“What’d he say?” Alan asked.

“Is he coming?” Alex asked, wide-eyed.

“Obviously not,” Jack rolled his eyes.

“Oh,” Alan and Alex both deflated.

Jaime frowned.

“We’ll catch up with him and Robert tomorrow, Jaime.” Alex said, clapping a hand on Jaime’s back.

“Bo,” Jack corrected.

“What?” Alex asked, confused.

“Just met the kid,” Jack replied, “He likes to be called Bo.” 

“Yeah, isn’t that what Tony told us yesterday?” Austin asked.

The other boys shrugged in unison.

“How do you get ‘Bo’ from Robert?” Alex chuckled and plopped back down on Jaime’s couch.

“How does someone get ‘Billy’ from William?” Rian asks, adding to the gag.

“How do you get ‘Dick’ from Richard?” Jack laughs.

“You ask him nicely,” Alan replies genuinely.

This caused the other five boys to erupt in laughter.

Alan sat dumbfounded, not knowing what was funny.

  
  
  
  



	6. Nothing Personal

Bo and Tony both sat in Tony’s backyard, looking up at the San Diego sky.

“Did you write anything new in Boston?” Tony asked.

“Nothing really,” Bo replied with a shrug, “You?”

“No,” Tony frowned.

“Just music. Not any lyrics.” Bo clarified his other answer.

“You should play it for me.” Tony says with a smile.

Bo looked at Tony and smiled.

“I will, when It’s perfect.” Bo replied.

Tony nodded.

Bo watched as Tony became absolutely mesmerised by the sun setting, causing him to smile even wider.

Almost instantly, the view of the sunset got old, causing Tony to turn to Bo and ask

“Piano or Guitar?” 

“I wrote on the piano in Boston,” Bo replied.

Tony nodded.

“Don’t you already have some lyrics done?” Tony asked.

Bo nodded, then shrugged.

“Bits and pieces to different songs,” Bo replied, uneasily.

“You don’t seem too confident about that,” Tony said.

Bo sighed and ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair.

(A/N I don’t know why, but ‘Dark Blonde’ doesn’t seem like a real ‘color’... but that’s the most accurate description of Bo’s hair color, so…)

Tony scanned Bo’s unreadable face.

“You know, you’re really good at hiding how you feel.” Tony sighed.

Bo’s face feel and Bo sighed once more.

Tony scanned Bo’s face once more, until he met Bo’s dark blue yes.

Bo looked back into Tony’s eyes and smiled.

“I know,” Bo said softly, “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Tony insisted, “ But, why are you hesitating with the material you’ve written?” Tony asked.

“I’m not,” Bo defended.

“You are.You aren’t confident talking about it.” Tony replied.

“Because it’s shit, Tone.” Bo sighed again.

“Bo, I’m sure it’s great.” Tony replied.

“Well, it isn’t.” Bo sunk in his seat.

“There’s not one song you’ve written that I didn’t like.” Tony assured.

Bo shrugs once more.

“What does that mean?” Tony asked.

Bo brought his knees to his chest and shook his head.

“What is it, Bosey?” Tony asked.

“Nothing,” Bo smiled wide, “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

“Bo,” Tony groaned, “You’re doing it again,”

“Doing what?” Bo asked, still smiling wide.

“You’re not  talking   to me,” Tony sighed.

“I am  talking to you, ” Bo replied, “That’s kinda what we’re doing right now, talking…”

“You’re not telling me what’s bothering you,” Tony elaborated.

“Nothing’s bothering me,” Bo said softly, as he looked up at his best friend with sad eyes.

“Something’s clearly got you upset!” Tony replied loudly.

"Seriously, Tony." Bo sighed, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me," 

Tony sighed in defeat. 

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“Bosey!” Bo’s mother called from her backyard.

“Ma?” Bo called back, walking up to the fence that separated Tony’s backyard from his own.

“Bo, honey. It’s getting late and you still need to unpack.” His mother said from the opposing side.

“Alright, I’ll be right there.” Bo sighed.

Bo turned around and walked back to where he and Tony were sitting.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Bo looked at Tony with a smile.

Tony returned a smile and nodded.

“Of course,” 

“And I’ll get to meet your new friends?” Bo asked.

“Yes, you will. If you want to, of course.” Tony replied as he stood with Bo.

Bo nodded.

“Let’s go,” Tony nodded towards his house.

The two boys left Tony’s house and stood in his front yard for a second.

As they stood in silence, taking in the cool evening air, they nopticed the boys from Tony’s team leaving the house across the street.

“Hey!” Alex called from the front lawn, waving enthusiastically.

Tony waved back with a small smile.

Tony couldn’t help but sigh under his breath when Alex led the other boys across the street to Tony’s front lawn.

“Tony,” Bo gasped, “I- I can’t do this,” Bo began to panic.

“Sure you can, they’re fine,” Tony whispered as the boys were nearly in front of them.

Bo stood silent, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Hey, Tony!” Austin said with a smile.

“Hey,” Tony breathed, nodding at the boys.

“You must be Bo,” Austin turned to Bo, “I’m Austin, I play on the baseball team with Tony.” 

Bo looked down at his feet and nodded.

“You’re just as shy as he is, aren’t you,” Alan asked Bo, while pointing at Tony.

Bo hesitated for a moment before nodding once more.

“That’s cool, I know we don’t know each other.” Austin nodded.

“We hardly ever talk to each other, we get it,” Rian offered.

Bo nodded again, turned to Tony and muttered,

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” 

Tony nodded and Bo walked to his house next door.

“It was nice meeting you,” Alex called after Bo, who just ignored him and went inside.

“Is he alright?” Alex asked Tony.

Tony sighed, “Yeah, he’s just… He’s not used to meeting people.” Tony explained.

“Like you,” Jack asked. 

Tony nodded.

“Yeah,” 

“How long have you two been friends?” Alan asked.

“Since I moved here,” Tony answered, “He had just moved from Boston, I had just moved from Tijuana… We were both the new kids without any friends.. so…” Tony shrugged.

“And he’s been your only friend since?” Rian asked.

Tony nodded.

“I’m guessing you’ve been his only friend as well,” said Austin.

“Yeah. Bo and I have gotten really close over the years, so.. It’s hard for either of us to make any other friends… So, don’t take it personally..” Tony said apologetically.

“Don’t worry, we get it.” Austin assured with a smile.

“Great,” Tony smiled back, “Well, I- uhh.. I’ll see you all tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Austin nodded.

The boys made their way back to Jaime’s house across the street and Tony went back into his house.

Tony slammed the door behind him.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?” Tony’s mother asked.

“I’ve had a long day,” Tony yawned and trudged to his bedroom upstairs.

 

* * *

The Next Morning

“Bo,” The muffled voice called loudly. Bo groaned as a means of a response.

“Bo, honey.” The voice repeated, knocking at the door.

Bo groaned again and covered his face with his pillow.

“Bosey,” The voice said, before entering Bo’s room.

Bo sighed, pulled the pillow to the side and sat up.

His mother stood in the doorway with an empathetic face.

Bo looked up at his mother and sat silent.

“Are you feeling sick, honey?” Mrs. Burnham, or Patty, rather, asked her son as she sat on the foot of his bed.

Bo sighed and looked down at his lap. He was used to his mother overreacting.

“Momma, I’m fine. I’m just tired.” Bo replied, looking back to meet his mother’s worried eyes.

“Jet lagged?” She asked with an empathetic tone.

Bo nodded. His mother ran her fingers through his hair.

“You okay to go to school?” She asked.

Bo thought for a second.

On one hand, he was fine. Really, he was.

But on another, he kind of didn’t want to go to school.

Although Bo said he was eager, Bo was nervous to meet Tony’s new friends.

His mother was a school nurse back in Boston, which causes her to overreact whenever Bo falls ill.

So he knew that she would allow him to stay home if he wanted.

But, he knew he couldn’t leave Tony alone at school.

Tony was always the thing to make up Bo’s mind.

Tony was always the person to always make Bo do things without him really noticing it.

“No,” Bo shook his head and threw his comforter off himself, “I’m fine.”

Bo stood and picked clothes out from his closet.

“Well, if you’re ever feeling ill, just call me or your father and we’ll bring you home, okay?” His mother said with a warm smile.

Bo nodded and returned a smile.

“Hurry up, or you’ll be late.” With that, his mother went back downstairs.

Bo sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.

Bo chucked on a t-shirt and slipped jeans on. His shirt was black, with  QUESTION EVERYTHING  printed boldly across the chest.

“BOSEY!” His mother called from downstairs, “TONY’S HERE! YOU BETTER HURRY!”

“I’ll be right down!” Bo yelled back.

Bo quickly brushed his teeth, shoved his glasses on his face, grabbed his bag and ran downstairs.

“Do you ever comb your hair?” Tony teased, referring to the unruly blonde mass of hair on Bo’s head.

“Nope,” Bo replied, popping the ‘p’ and scrambling to put his shoes on.

“Why not?” Tony asked as he ran his fingers through the mess of hair, attempting to fix it.

“The same reason I don’t wear shorts,” Bo replied as he tied his shoe.

Tony looked at Bo with a confused face.

Bo stood straight, threw his backpack over his shoulder and looked Tony in the eye.

“Because that’s for pussies,” Bo whispered with a straight face.

Tony rolled his eyes jokingly and laughed.

“I heard that! Watch your language, Robert!” Bo’s mother said sternly.

“Sorry, ma.” Bo replied as he and Tony started walking out of the door, “Bye mom, love you.”

“I love you too, Bosey. Be sure to call me if-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Bo nodded and closed the door behind.

“Call her if what?” Tony asked.

“She thinks I’m sick.” Bo scoffed.

“Are you?” Tony asked.

“No, that’s just the nurse in her talking,” Bo shrugged.

Tony nodded and the two began their walk to school.

“Did we have Pre-calc homework?” Bo asked.

Tony shook his head. Bo sighed in relief.

“Thank fuck, I spent the whole break thinking we did.” 

“We did have homework for chem, though.” 

“Are you serious?” Bo asked, dramatically turning to face Tony.

“Yeah,” Tony nodded.

“What was it?” Bo asked.

“Reflection to the lab we did a few weeks ago.” Tony said as they crossed to the other side of their street,

“Well, I’m fucked,” Bo sighed.

“I’ll let you copy it,” Tony began, his eyes dropping from Bo’s eyes to his shirt, “Question everything?” Tony asked as he read Bo’s shirt.

Bo grinned widely and nodded. No pointed to his shirt over-enthusiastically.

“Why?” Tony asked sarcastically.

“I like that,” Bo giggled, “This is why we’re friends.” Bo said with an approving nod.

“No, we’re friends because you harass me when we were younger.” Tony laughed.

“Did not,” Bo defended.

“Yeah, everyday you tried talking to me. Not the best approach, Bo.”

“It worked,” Bo shrugged, “Apparently, it worked for Ashby, too.” He teased.

“Ooh,” Tony began sarcastically, “Shots fired.”

The two erupted into laughter.

Before either of them could say anything else, they were interrupted.

“H-Hey, Tony!”

Bo and Tony stopped, and turned to the voice.

Jaime stood with a nervous smile on his face. It was obvious he was just leaving for school.

“Oh, hey,” Tony nods, “Uh, Bo, this is Jaime. He just moved here.”

Bo forces a small smile and nods at Jaime.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bo.” Jaime says with a smile.

Bo just nods again.

“Do you want to walk with us?” Tony offered Jaime.

Bo’s head shot up to look at Tony as if he were insane.

Jaime nodded, and said “That’d be great. If you don’t mind,” 

“No, It’s fine.” Tony insisted.

Without a word from either of of them, the three continued the trail from their neighborhood to school.

Jaime walked alongside Tony and Bo silently.

Jaime didn’t know whether or not it was normal, but to him, the silence was getting awkward.

“So, Bo,” Jaime begins, trying to start conversation, “You live in the same neighborhood?” 

Of course he does, idiot. You know he lives across the street from you. He thought.

Bo nodded, “I live next door to Tony,” he said with a small voice.

“Do you play any sports, Bo?” Jaime asked.

Bo shook his head, “I don’t like dirt,” He stated simply.

"You?" Tony asked Jaime.

"I played soccer back in New York. I might pick it up next year." Jaime replied with a shrug.

Tony nodded.  And no one spoke after that.

The remaining walk, although short, felt longer due to the crippling silence.

Once they began to reach the school, the familiar sounds of miscellaneous students.

One sound in particular was the distinct

"PERRY!" coming from non other than Alex Gaskarth.

Tony forced a smile and Bo sighed.

And Jaime just blushed from the sight of Tony’s smile.

“What’s up, guys” Alex called as he, along with his friends, approached the three.

“Hey, thanks for walking with Jaime.” Jack smiled and ruffled Jaime’s already messy hair.

“Of course,” Tony replied with a smile and a curt nod.

And without another word, Bo and Tony, as per usual, blended into the sea of students crowding the hallways, leaving Jaime with his friends.

“What do they even talk about?” Rian asked Jaime.

“Nothing,” Jaime shrugged.

“Nothing?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, they didn't really say much at all.”

“What  did  they say?” Jack asked.

“Bo said he doesn’t like dirt,” Jaime shrugged once more.

“Dirt?” Rian repeated, astonished.

With Tony and Bo

“We’re never doing that again,” Bo sighed as they entered the Chemistry lab.

“You don’t like him?” Tony asked as he plopped his backpack onto a table.

“He’s fine,” Bo shrugged, “But he’s too... chatty,”   Bo squinted, satirically.

Tony giggled and shook his head.

“Well,  I like him,” Tony shrugged.

Bo froze in his spot and a sly grin spread across his face.

Tony sat down and pulled out his Chem homework. He looked up at Bo and saw the face he was making.

“What?” Tony asked.

“You…  like him?” Bo asked, and nudged Tony with his elbow.

“Not like  that!”  Tony whisper-yelled.

“Mhm, sure” Bo teased sarcastically.

“I  do not!”  Tony defended.

“Oh, come on, Tony! You hardly know the guy!” Bo shook his head in mock disapproval.

“I DO NOT LIKE HIM LIKE THAT,” Tony whisper yelled once more, smacking Bo with his binder.

Bo chuckled and swatted the binder away.

“It’s his hair, isn’t it?” Bo teased once more.

“I’m done with you,” Tony sighed and sank in his chair.

“Oh, you love me.” Bo teased and took his chem homework out.

“Too much,” Tony retorted sarcastically.

“No such thing,” Bo smirked as he ruffled Tony’s hair.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. The Unarmed

The bell rang loudly, signaling all students to report for their first hour classes.

“Can I just take this and give back next hour?” Bo asked, referring to Tony’s chem homework.

“Sure,” Tony shrugged and packed his binder into his backpack.

“You didn’t change your classes for the spring semester, did you?” Bo asked, packing his things away as well.

“Nah,” Tony shook his head, “You?”

“Just Piano 1A for 4th hour instead of 5th,” Bo shrugged.

“Cool,” Tony nodded.

“I’ll see you in second,” Bo smiled. Tony nodded once more and promptly left the chem lab.

He quickly blended into the busy halls filled with bustling students moving to their classes.

Tony ducked his head down lower, just to ensure he wouldn’t stand out.

Keeping his eyes glued to the floor, Tony quickly maneuvered to his first hour class.

As he entered the math building, he was happy to see the halls began to clear up.

The hallway between him and his AP Lit class was completely empty, allowing him to stroll.

It was nice to just take his time on his way to class.

Tony took in a ball of air and braced himself before he opened the door to his classroom

He wasn’t surprised that the room was empty of any students when he entered.

The teacher sat silently at his desk, reading the morning paper.

“Good morning, Sir,” The teacher smiled at Tony.

Tony nodded and forced a small smile before walking to his desk. He always sat in the back of the middle column. 

Always. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be in the front. He did, it was the most ideal spot, academically…

But socially, Tony was safest in the back. Away from anyone who would find him as prey.

The teacher watched Tony’s every move, as he did every morning Tony came before the late bell.

Tony say at his desk silently, as he would for every hour of every class of the day.

“How was your break, Mr. Perry?” Mr. Wright asked.

Tony nodded and forced another small smile.

Mr. Wright was understanding of Tony’s lack of communication. He performed outstandingly, even in an upper-classmen class, as a freshman.

Mr. Wright was very impressed by Tony’s performance in the English language. Therefore, he never made Tony do anything he wasn’t comfortable with…

That included verbal communication.

Tony fished out three novels from his backpack and walked to Mr. Wright’s desk.

“Oh,” Mr. Wright smiled as Tony set the books on his desk.

“All three?” Mr. Wright asked, Tony nodded, “In one week?”

Tony nodded again and smiled.

“Impressive,” Mr. Wright nodded approvingly.

Over break, Tony had re-read and completed  Of Mice And Men  by John Steinbeck , To Kill A Mockingbird  by Harper Lee , and Looking For Alaska  by John Green .

“How was this one?” Mr. Wright asked, pointing to  Looking For Alaska.

Tony gave a thumbs up and a smile.

“How many stars?” Mr. Wright asked with a smile.

Tony held up an open palm, indicating 5.

“Very well,” Mr. Wright nodded, “Might check it out sometime.”

Suddenly, students began to pile in as the late bell rang.

The room quickly went from silent to noisy with indistinct chatter.

Mr. Wright handed Tony his books. Tony nodded a  thank you and returned to his desk.

The student all noticed Tony carrying his novels, and silently mocked him for it.

“Of course that’s what you did over break, Einstein.” An upper classman (that Tony never bothered learning the name of) ridiculed as Tony walked past him.

Tony ignored him and tried his best to return to his seat.

The junior stopped and blocked his path.

Tony stopped and took in another ball of air, before trying to go around him.

“Nah,” The older boy spat, pushing Tony back. “You’ll have to excuse yourself, first.”

“Trevor, that’s enough.” Mr. Wright called out from his desk.

By now, the whole class stood around the two, gawking. (I mean, It’s AP Lit, you’d think these kids would be a bit more… nevermind..)

Tony stood there in front of Trevor, with his books clutched to his chest.

“Come on, Einstein.” Trevor teased, getting closer to Tony.

Tony looked down at the linoleum and took a step back.

“It’s English, we all know you know English well… Just speak it for once,” Trevor persisted.

“Trevor,” Mr. Wright scolded once more, now standing from his desk.

Trevor stared at Tony, hoping it would get him to say something…  Anything… For once.

“Mr. Wright,” Trevor began, obnoxiously, “How’s a freshman gonna be in AP Lit, and not talk to anyone?”

“In a battle of wits, one does not fight another who is unarmed,” Mr. Wright replied.

The whole class erupted in laughter. Tony stood there, wide-eyed.

Trevor stood there, dumbfounded by what his teacher said.

“Sit down, Perry.” Trevor muttered and got out of his way.

Tony rushed to his desk and immediately put his head down to his desk.

 

* * *

With Bo

Bo left the chem lab and threw his backpack over his shoulder.

Immediately, Bo slouched and ducked his head to avoid being approached.

But, as always, he got the occasional shove, accompanied by a  “Hey, skinny.”

Bo kept his head low and tried his best to get to his Gym before the late bell sounded.

As expected, the halls quickly cleared from loitering students.

Bo decided to slow his pace, considering he didn't really enjoy gym.

Bo sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Yo, skinny!” Someone yelled from the other end of the hallway, which Bo thought was empty.

Bo froze, hoping that if he didn't respond, this interaction would end instantly. But to no avail, Bo heard pairs of footsteps get louder.

“Did you hear me, faggot?” The same guy called, and he approached Bo and smacked him on the back of the head. He was obviously loitering in the halls with two of his friends, looking for trouble.

Bo sighed and tried to continue walking. He was suddenly jerked back as one of the ‘goons’ pulled Bo back from the back of his shirt collar.

Bo gasped as his back collided with the front of one of the guys.

“What’d you do over the break, fag?” One of the goons taunted.

Bo just took in a deep breath and kept his eyes glued to the floor.

“Answer me,” He gritted through his teeth and tugged on a handful on Bo’s hair.

“Ah,” Bo gasped, his head jerked back from his hair.

“Answer me, faggot.” He repeated.

“Are you sure I’m the faggot? You’re the one with your hands all over me,” Bo replied sarcastically.

The boy with a fistful of Bo’s hair shoved Bo forward.

“What the fuck did you say?” One of them asked, their voice low.

Bo chuckled, turned around and sprinted away.

The three of them chased behind.

“You’re fucking dead, Burnham!” One of them yelled.

Bo picked up his speed and sped through the halls, towards the administration office.

Bo nearly flew past the hallways of lockers, his long strides taking him farther than anticipated.

With the boys far behind, Bo stopped right in front of the administration office, hoping not to get caught running in the halls.

The late bell suddenly sounded.

Bo gulped as the boys drew in closer. Bo stood panting, his heart pounding in his chest, not knowing his next move.

They were only a few yards away, leaving Bo to squeeze his eyes shut and wait for impact.

Bo began to shake as the stomping got louder and louder, pounding harder and harder.

Bo inhaled sharply and prepared himself.

Just as one of them grabbed Bo’s arm tightly, and the other taking another fistful of Bo’s hair, a stern voice yelled.

“What in God’s name is going on?” 

With his eyes still shut, Bo felt the boys let go of him.

“Robert,” The stern voice said, more soothing.

Bo opened his eyes slowly, his whole body still slightly shaking.

“What happened, sweetheart?” The voice asked.

Bo looked at who was talking to him, their assistant principal, Ms.Turner.

Bo said nothing and looked down at his shoes.

“Did they hurt you?” She asked.

Bo shrugged. Ms. Turner sighed.

“What class should you be in?” Ms. Turner asked.

“Gym,” Bo whispered, not looking up from his shoes.

“Perfect,” Ms. Turner sighed, “Would you mind showing Jaime here where he has to go? He has gym for first hour as well. He’s new here.” Ms. Turner asked with a warm smile. Bo looked up to see Jaime standing right behind Ms. Turner, with a look of empathy on his face.

Bo hesitated, then nodded.

“Thank you, Robert.” Ms. Turner nodded, “Now, you three..” She began at the three boys who were about to assault Bo.

“In the principals office,” Ms. Turner scolded, “Now.”

The three boys sighed, hung their heads, and made their way into the administration office… right to the principal.

“You boys have a great day,” Ms. Turner said with a smile.

Bo nodded, and began leading Jaime to the gym.

“Oh, and Robert,” Ms. Turner stopped them.

Bo turned back to Ms. Turner.

“If you get into anymore trouble, talk to a teacher or a trusted adult… Okay?” Ms. Turner said with a sad smile.

Bo nodded, dismissing it. SHe knew he wasn’t listening, so she sighed and let them on their way.

She walked back into the office, ready to punish the boys harassing Bo.

Bo turned back and continued his path to the gym.

“What happened back there?” Jaime asked, his voice low.

Bo ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head.

“Are you okay?” Jaime asked, clearly worried.

Bo shook his head one more time, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

The walked together in silence.

Jaime hated to admit it, but he really wanted to be Bo’s friend… for all the wrong reasons..

He wanted to be his friend just so he’d get closer to Tony.

It sounds horrible, Jaime knows that..

But he also knew that he now felt bad for Bo, and just wanted to help him.

“How often does that happen?” Jaime asked cautiously.

Bo shrugged and tightened the straps on his backpack.

Jaime gave up on talking to him, for now.

But he was determined to get Bo to open up.

Because if he got Bo to open up, he could get Tony to.


End file.
